father: David Anderson Brooks (was a runaway slave)
mother: Keziah Corinne Brooks
eldest of three children
shy throughout childhood and adulthood
wasn't very social as a child
Brooks love of poetry made itself known at an early age
By the age of 16, Brooks wrote over 75 poems!
Brooks love of poetry made itself known at an early age
in 1930 at an age of 13 she puplished her first poem
graduated in 1936
in 1939 she married Henry Blakely
in 1940 the couple had their first son Henry, in 1951 they had their daughter Nora
In the 1950s, Brooks published her first and only novel, Maud Martha
African-American
wrote about African-American dreams and struggles
first African American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
During the 1970s, she taught poetry at multiple institutions for higher learning, including Northeastern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and the City College of the City University of New York
By the time she was seventeen, she was publishing poems frequently in the Chicago Defender, a newspaper serving Chicago's black population
She wrote Children Coming Home, which was published in 1991
died in Chicago, Illinois, on December 3, 2000. She was 83 years old.
died of cancer
Gwendolyn Brooks.
Gwendolyn Brooks smiling for a picture.
Gwendolyn Brooks reading one of her poems.
Gwendolyn Brooks most known poems:
1. Sadie and Maud
2. Speach to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward 3.The Ballad of Rudolph Reed 4.The Bean Eaters 5.The Crazy Woman 6.The Good Man 7.The Independent Man 8.The Lovers of the Poor 9.The Sonnet-Ballad 10.To Be In Love 11.To the Dispora 12.We Real Cool 13.Kitchenette Building 14.A Sunset of the City 15.Garabageman: The Man With the Olderly Mind
Poem (Sadie and Maud):
Maud went to college.
Sadie stayed home.
Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.
She didn't leave a tangle in
Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks
In all the land.
Sadie bore two babies
Under her maiden name.
Maud and Ma and Papa
Nearly died of shame.
When Sadie said her last so-long
Her girls struck out from home.
(Sadie left as heritage
Her fine-toothed comb.)
Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house.
Gwendolyn Brooks:
Gwendolyn Brooks most known poems:
1. Sadie and Maud
2. Speach to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward
3.The Ballad of Rudolph Reed
4.The Bean Eaters
5.The Crazy Woman
6.The Good Man
7.The Independent Man
8.The Lovers of the Poor
9.The Sonnet-Ballad
10.To Be In Love
11.To the Dispora
12.We Real Cool
13.Kitchenette Building
14.A Sunset of the City
15.Garabageman: The Man With the Olderly Mind
Poem (Sadie and Maud):
Maud went to college.
Sadie stayed home.
Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.
She didn't leave a tangle in
Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks
In all the land.
Sadie bore two babies
Under her maiden name.
Maud and Ma and Papa
Nearly died of shame.
When Sadie said her last so-long
Her girls struck out from home.
(Sadie left as heritage
Her fine-toothed comb.)
Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house.
WORKS CITED:
1st picture:
Gwen Brooks. Photograph. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.emmetttillmurder.com/gwen-brooks.jpg>.
2nd picture:
Brooks. Photograph. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.gale.cengage.com/images/free_resources/bhm/bio/brooks.jpg>.
3rd picture:
Gwendolyn Brooks. Photograph. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/1999/31/images/gwendolynbrooks.jpg>.
Information:
"Gwendolyn Brooks." The Poetry Foundation : Find Poems and Poets. Discover Poetry. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gwendolyn-brooks>.
"Gwendolyn Brooks." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks>.
"Gwendolyn Brooks." Read to Learn! Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.readtolearn.org/skillpacks/pdf/GwendolynBrooks.pdf>.
Photostory:
"Article Name." Celsius: Climate Change Is Not a Spectator Sport. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.celsias.com/media/uploads/admin/Old-House-1-small.jpg>.
"Joke Novelties." United Mask and Party Manufacturing. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. <http://www.unitedmaskandparty.com/Joke_Novelties/images/giant_comb.jpg>.
"Trinity College." Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. http://web.mit.edu/lipoff/www/england/Cambridge/Trinity%20College.jpg.
Dazdraperma. Two Babies Vector. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/179781-two-babies-vector.
House. Photograph. Welcome to the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. http://www.parktownheritage.co.za/.
Landrum, Kelly. Mystical Lane. Photograph. Web. 26 Jan. 2011. <http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5226785>.
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